After a wave of crimes involving the theft of customers’ credit and debit information through mass data breaches in retail stores through credit card swipe machines, chip and PIN credit cards began to gain serious public attention. If your business is still using older magnetic swipe credit card readers, there are some security vulnerabilities.

You may be surprised to find out that merchants are not always required to ask for your ID when you make a purchase with your credit card. While it’s perfectly okay for a merchant to ask for your ID, you can refuse to provide it and they have no right to refuse the use of your credit card for the purchase of your merchandise.

Cash transactions are becoming rarer every day as consumers make the switch to credit and debit cards. Businesses must offer these payment options to stay competitive. Fortunately, today’s credit card systems for small business are more secure than ever, thanks to EMV technology.

Merchant service fees are a tax-deductible cost of running your business. These credit card fees pay the costs associated with authenticating each credit card, maintaining the card processing infrastructure and assuming some liability for credit fraud.

Though US consumers only hold 24 percent of the world’s credit cards, they are the most frequent targets of stolen data. In fact, a 2015 reports notes that 47 percent of global credit card fraud happens in the US. Major incidents involving stolen data from retail and restaurant chains made international headlines and caused those companies massive financial losses. One of the primary reasons that US cardholders have historically been easy targets is the country’s long delay in adopting smart chip credit card systems.

Whether you’re buying gifts online or in store, you’re probably going to be using your credit or debit card this holiday season. Here’s our best advice for keeping your bank account safe when making a purchase with your credit or debit card:

Traveling and shopping online at stores outside of the country are both great ways to broaden your horizons. And while those pursuits have entirely different goals, they have one very big thing in common — foreign transaction fees.

With 88 percent of Americans owning and using credit cards, accepting card payments at your business can be a great way to appeal to customers. Fewer people are carrying cash and check payments can take time to clear, hindering cash flow for many small and growing businesses.

Let’s look at the process for accepting and setting up a credit card machine at your business.

While Apple might call their elimination of the iPhone headphone jack on the forthcoming iPhone 7 a move of “courage,” it’s left many Americans irritated over their music attachments becoming obsolete.